CONCLUSIONS 475 



The study of the interrelations of many equilibrations thus led 

 to a general concept of a living unit, for each individual may be 

 viewed as composed physiologically of a great many connected and 

 inseparable regulations. Thus it turns out that the study is of any 

 living unit as a whole. Even where ''parts" were named, as dis- 

 tributees or as paths, the part was playing its role in relation to 

 the economy of the unit ; it, in turn, was related to its environment 

 and to other living units. I think the above specific picture of 

 functional continuities both describes and explains the correction 

 of disturbances in physiological properties. 



§ 177. Alternative studies of the same material 



Throughout the course of the investigation it was apparent that 

 the same data and relations might be used for a variety of mono- 

 graphs other than the one centering on regulations. 



(1) A customary limitation would be to consider that one com- 

 ponent, such as water and its metabolism, furnishes a complete 

 story in itself (chapters II and III). 



(2) Or, one species, such as dog, or man, could be studied with 

 respect to many components and their exchanges (tables 40, 42). 



(3) Or, any other living unit, such as a city, a muscle, or an 

 erythrocyte, could be described by the kinds of correlations its com- 

 ponents enter (chapter VIII). 



(4) A survey of comparative physiology could be based upon 

 the quantitative differences in the same few components among 

 many species (§ 98, § 107, § 141). 



(5) A research in organ physiology would characterize the 

 paths of the exchanges measured (§ 137). The kidneys of one or 

 many vertebrate species, or the guts of all animals, might thus be 

 described in terms of quantitative exchanges of components. 



(6) One type of agent or environment might be studied as re- 

 lated to diverse components, in one or many species (§ 108, § 138). 

 Thus physical exercise of one or many kinds, or low oxygen ten- 

 sions, or sulfanilamide, or age, or temperature could be charted; 

 uniformities and differences in the agent's relations to diverse 

 physiological components are thereby ascertained. 



(7) Application of the knowledge about regulations might be 

 directed toward specific objectives (§162). Devising of clinical 

 tests of function, finding therapies, discovering insecticides, defin- 

 ing the ''normal," improving physical performance, all require 

 knowledge either explicitly or implicitly of regulations. 



